Oldsmobile joins Plymouth: RIP

Exactly. My folks have bought more (and pricier) new cars between ages
65 and 75 than they did in their entire lives up until that point. And
they're only now beginning to taper back a little on miles travelled per
year. Their attitude was "we've done our time saving money and buying
used, we've saved up, everything else is paid for, and we're going to
enjoy it while we can."

 

Not really, but I get your point. My recollection is that GM air
conditioners were always the short end of the stick when compared to
Ford (York) or Chrysler (Airtemp) systems. Its true that the original GM
A-6 compressor was MILES ahead of the later DA-6 and (especially) R-4
and other abominations that crawled from GM assembly lines like mutant
creatures in H.R.Geiger paintings, but they were never as good as the
competition.

That I DO remember. And the truth be known, they never really got truly
worse than the competition. All the carmakers had hell with 4-speed FWD
automatics, but Chrysler's problems were compounded in several ways.
First, they did bring the A-604 out at LEAST a year before it was ready.
Second, they brought it out in minivans, which were too heavy for it and
were also a very high-profile market segment. And third, the dealer
network handled it poorly when problems popped up.

 

Exactly the opposite of what I've been hearing.

 

Less powerful and more expensive to insure than the cheaper and more
reliable Mustang GT. If the SVO is ever collectable, it will only be
because there are so few left running. And even THAT was't enough to
make the Mustang II collectable, so I have my doubts about the SVO as
well...

 

If those are "hot," or will ever be collectable, then the world is a
sadder place than I realized.

 

The SVO got all the superior parts for that chasis. It is already
collectable and has been for a number of years now.

 

That's too bad, I thought it was a great idea, a drop-in
conversion like that. Oh well, many things turn out
to be worse than they sound, that's just one more.

Bernard

 

At least this restores my faith in Lockheed! I've always been a big
Skunk Works fan and would hate to find that Lockheed was involved in
something that could likely result in the death of a pilot or passengers.

Yes, I've seen the stats on whistleblowers and they aren't good. The
good news is that there are many ways to blow the whistle relatively
anonymously. You may still be found out or at least suspected, but this
may well give you enough time to move onto a new job before you are
fired. It almost always looks better if you leave voluntarily. And who
would want to work for a company that wasn't ethical? Certainly not me.
However, I don't relish becoming a martyr either. Fortunately, I work
for a very ethical company and haven't had to face this situation in
other than hypothetical discussions!


Matt

 

Try it again, Bill. Hopefully, the third time will be the charm!


Matt

 

It absolutely is. Older is a relative term, not an absolute term. The
discussion was whether car makers should focus on young people and I was
talking about people older than that. If we were talking about infants,
then teenagers would be considered older people. Are you really unable
to grasp the difference between old and older?

I wish. Well past 40, and I'm definitely OLDER than the market most car
makers target, but I'm not OLD and I'm not RETIRED. Are you able to
grasp this difference? What are you, 80 and senile?


Matt

 

Ah yes! My wife and I used to date in my dad's '66 Charger. Rolled
factory leather upholstery. Seems "I read somewhere" that you could
fold the back seats perfectly flat with the trunk floor and, from there,
stare up at the stars and moon thru the rear window. 8^)

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

 

Lol!! In too much of a hurry to get to work.

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

 

....til it fogs up...

 

The local Telco - before they were bought out - years ago had
introduced a "Total Cost of Ownership" plan.

They had finally woken up and realized that they designed NOTHING. In
effect, all they did was provide a service. And when a piece of
equipment caused a service interruption, then that caused customer
dis-satisfaction - and cost them $$$.

So they embarked on the program - identifying EVERY piece of
equipment. They associated the initial purchase price with the
identification. If and when there was a problem with the equipment,
all time, charges, customer credits, ANY cost associated was then
attributed to the associated piece of equipment - AND ITS
MANUFACTURER.

The next time equipment bids were tendered, the bid prices for
equipment manufacturers with KNOWN AND PROVEN PROBLEMS was adjusted UP
to reflect the "TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP"! )))

The vendors shit bricks. This ment that of they flogged crap, it would
eventually be discovered, and then the next time they would have to
low-ball a bid just to stay at par.

From that point on bids were awarded based on the Total cost of
ownership.

Service levels improved, costs went down, customer satisfaction went
WAY up.

Alas, then they were bought out by a larger telco who scrapped the
program, and we are worse off than ever.

 

God, what a concept.

Musta been a non-MBA who dreamed that one up.

So they actually had to do their job and build equipment that worked? Oh
my god, what a nightmare for them.

MBAs...

 

I own a 66 Dodge Charger, and have had it since I was 15 (I'm 23 now).
From the front buckets back to the trunk is a flat level surface when
the seats are folded down. Only problem is those pesky chrome trim
pieces on the backs of the back seats hurt after a while

And the electroluminescent dash lights make a nice blue glow for mood
lighting!

 

The SVO was pretty much instantly collectible. Not that anybody in this
group would care.

 

There's a lot of competition in the arena that the aurora played in. There
are a lot more luxury marques now, and just a lot of vehicles in that price
range too.

I really take issue with the idea that somebody was "burned" by an
Oldsmobile. If you bought a diesel, I'm sorry, but you should have known
better after the first year. I had one, and I loved it. I bought it used,
of course, practically got it for free.

I thought the "not your father's oldsmobile" was the dumbest ad campaign any
company could possibly come up with. It's like they were saying "our cars
have always stunk, try us again!" Whoever came up with that.... But the
truth is 60's and 70's oldsmobiles were absolutely great. They looked great,
were durable, didn't rust like Chevies, Chryslers and Fords, and they even
handled pretty well (for the 70's).

Nobody has brought this up at all, but it's PONTIAC that's going to be next.
They need to get some styling. Even the GTO looks like a rental car. I don't
want an SUV, but a lot of folks do, and Pontiac doesn't have one. Even Buick
has a couple of SUV's. Heck, Cadillac has 3. V-8 rear drive cars are roaring
back, and Pontiac apparently has no plans to build one, although selling the
Holden GTO is probably better than doing nothing. I'm not feeling the
"excitement" from those V-6 front drive rental cars they make.

 

No, Daniel - MBAs saving the company lots of money. 8^)

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

 

Locally, there are a few 98s circulating, and they are all driven by old
guys.. there are also a couple of Toronados, but they are not driven much
because 8mpg does not appeal in Canada.. one of them was owned by my F-I-L..
he sold it to a guy who was going to smarten it up, but the gas consumption
beat any repairs to his wallet.. I would agree that Buicks are also driven
by old guys, but GM need a mid range car and I guess they just decided to
keep one marque over another.. no doubt there would have been an outcry no
matter what they did..

Re. having lots of old customers, for sure we are all getting older, but I
wouldn't drive an Oldsmobile anymore that I would drive a mini-van.. lol..
the image of Olds is way too old for me.. I did think about buying a Lincoln
Continental Town Car, but the town where I live just isn't large enough to
accommodate it.. lol.. and the gas station would have to reserve an
underground tank just for me.. 460 cu ins is cool, but hey!!.. the car was
in such good condition, and cheap too but again, 8 mpg sucks big time
(literally)..